


Fibromyalgia

by Mimi (SillyMimi)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Nogitsune Stiles, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 18:23:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1236475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SillyMimi/pseuds/Mimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott doesn't know the why or the how of his mother's fibromy-something pain, but the least he can do is take some of it away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fibromyalgia

**Author's Note:**

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibromyalgia

Their house has been alarmingly silent since Isaac was placed in the hospital and Stiles disappeared. Every day, Scott and his mother pass each other silently like ghosts, each of them worrying and wondering. He knows the stress will make her body hurt more than usual. She didn't even tell him about the constant, aching pain until he was in high school. Although she had medication, she still quietly endured the pain she felt, smiling sadly whenever he asked about it.

After he knew, he hated himself for never noticing the way she dug the heel of her hand against her thigh or the way she massaged constantly at her own shoulders. Always missed her shaking out her hands or tensing her body, seeking and never finding relief from her pain.

One whole day after everything at the hospital, he watches her from the kitchen; she sits at the dining room table and rubs her knuckles over her thigh in a smooth, one-directional motion towards her knee, like she's trying to knead the pain out of herself. She's scrolling through her phone as she does, and the movement of her hand against her leg is so absent-minded that it makes his chest hurt; she's _used_ to the ache.

Quietly, he goes to sit beside her, and she looks up with tired eyes. Without a word, he reaches out and takes her hand, the one that's massaging, and squeezes it.

"You don't have to," she starts to say, softly, and he grins at her.

"It's okay, Mom," he says, as the blackness of her pain leaves her and colors his veins, "I want to."

It's not a fierce or blinding pain, like he's felt before. Instead, it's dull, bone-deep, and insistent. It's almost _tingly_ , but mostly draining. It makes him feel weak and suddenly depressed. The ache travels to the back of his neck, his shoulders, his arms, his legs, but he holds on for a moment longer, until his mom relaxes in her chair with some relief in her face.

Finally, his veins return to their normal color, but he doesn't let go of her hand, just holds on tighter.

"Isaac will be okay," he says firmly, "and we'll find Stiles. Everything will be okay."

The way she smiles at him is patient and wise and hopeless. "Okay, baby," she says softly, and he pulls her into his arms, his cheek on her dark curls. Her pain stays with him the rest of the night and halfway through the following day, but he says nothing of it; it feels like his pulse is radiating through his whole body, pain thrumming just beneath his skin, but no amount of rubbing makes it go away.

After Stiles sent himself to the mental institute, Scott catches her digging her fingers into her upper arms. Silently, he takes her hand again and watches the darkness leave her body. He wishes there was some way he could do the same for his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so, uh, I have a [tumblr](http://sillybuttmimi.tumblr.com/) now, if you're interested in that sort of thing.


End file.
